Hi there friends! It has been a while, but our household has been VERY busy... the last few months have flown by.
Our family recently moved into our new home, bought a fixer upper Farmhouse next-door to our current house, started renovating that property, and found out we were expecting baby #2! Seriously. Whirlwind. In the midst of all of that chaos, we are also doing the normal things, living daily life with a 15 month old keeps me busy that's for sure! I have been helping more and more with my husband's work as a Real Estate Agent, spending a lot of time with our families, settling in our current home, trying to keep our family healthy and well after experiencing some stressful illnesses, and managing my little one's health care as we prepare to make decisions about his eye (surgery, vision therapy, etc.) - I will share more about my son's journey with his eye in another post.
So I wanted to share a little bit about how this pregnancy has been so far. Second pregnancy is DIFFERENT that is for sure! Ha! First of all, it has flown by... Chasing a 15 month old keeps me on my toes, and has me less focused on myself and my pregnancy this time around. It is helpful to know what to expect, and it's reassuring to already know what vitamins/supplements to take, what to eat and what not to eat, and all of the little weird things that come with pregnancy that you find out the first time around... and it's reassuring to know that the nausea DOES go away!
The major difference with this pregnancy that I experienced is my battle with COVID during the beginning of the first trimester... Right after we found out we were pregnant, we had just moved into our new home and were dealing with the chaos of moving and settling in the house. We were surprised to find out the news, but so excited and overall I felt so grateful that it happened so quickly. With my first baby, we tried for what felt like forever and felt so discouraged... it was tough on us individually and as a couple, but we made it through and were so blessed by the perfect timing of our baby boy. This time around, the news was sudden and unexpected, but amazing and so joyful. We couldn't believe we created this little life so quickly and naturally, with no "trying", stress, or intervention... we feel very blessed by this sweet baby.
The week after we found out we were expecting and moved into our house, we found out we had an exposure to COVID. About 4 days after, I began experiencing COVID symptoms and it came on pretty strong. I am SO grateful to have gotten through it and to have had a mild case. But I don't wish that sickness on anyone. It was the sickest I have been thus far, and to go through it during the beginning of pregnancy was one of the scariest things I have experienced. I feared for myself, my baby, and my family. I was so grateful to have amazing support from my health care team. I spoke to my OB doctor, my pediatrician, and my naturopath frequently during that time. I began taking more supplements and vitamins as directed by my naturopath, my pediatrician helped guide me in how to protect my son, and my OB helped calm my worries of how this may be impacting my growing baby. I was really sick for about 7-10 days, and then began recovering. I remember just feeling so exhausted. Taking a few steps or walking up the stairs made me so winded and out of breath. But slowly I regained some normalcy, just as the pregnancy symptoms really set in. So I traded my sickness and exhaustion for nausea, but overall I was just grateful for the normal pregnancy symptoms. I was thankful to feel pregnant! The fears of how that sickness impacted my growing little one have never really gone away, but I've been comforted with every appointment, every healthy ultrasound, every time I get to hear baby's sweet heartbeat... My anxiety and worry about COVID affecting my pregnancy and baby gets better every day. I have had to let go of the regret that weighed on me for exposing myself to the virus in the first place while pregnant. But I know God has been walking through this with me, and protecting this perfect baby that He created.
Overall, this season has been a very blessed one for our family. I'm settling into a new normal and a pretty sweet chapter of life. Staying home and focusing on our family and our babies is a blessing... it isn't always perfect, easy, or joyful and I often find myself in a battle of comparison to others, missing my job as a nurse, and struggling to embrace and acknowledge my self-worth in this new role. I have so much respect for moms... working mamas, stay at home mamas, and everything in between. My eyes have been opened to the constant work and the loneliness that can be felt as a stay at home mom. It is a different kind of work than my job as a nurse, but still SO important. And I try to remind myself every day that my purpose as a mama is greater than I can always see in my day-to-day.
I hope you all have been safe, well, healthy, and blessed in your own ways during this season.
